Ypsilanti's DeNovo Sciences recruits new CEO, wins GLEQ prize

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DeNovo Sciences recently took first place in the New Business Idea category of the most recent Great Lakes Entrepreneur's Quest business competition earlier this summer. It was a win, and a $5,000 cash prize, that came at just the right time for the Ypsilanti-based business.

"We were desperately looking for some recognition and money," says Priya Gogoi, president & co-founder of DeNovo Sciences. She says that prize money will go toward further research for its principal product and salaries for some of its three co-founders.

DeNovo Sciences is developing a microfluidic and imaging platform for early detection of metastatic cancer by isolation and detection of circulating tumor cells in blood. This new test would replace biopsies, which are often quite painful for patients. The 18-month-old start-up is working to have a prototype done by 2013 and have it commercialized by 2014.

Gogoi also says that her firm has recently made its first hire and expects to bring on its first CEO in August. Gogoi declined to identify the person until the announcement is made public later this summer, but did say this person was a member of the executive team of another successfully acquired bio-tech start-up.